Excess Voice - Write Copy That Directs the Site Visitor Forward

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June 2002
Issue # 09

In this issue:

>> Intro: More Content Writers than Copywriters
>> Article: Write Copy That Directs the Site Visitor Forward
>> Resources: Finding Work Part II
>> Survey: The Difference Between Copy and Content

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Greetings,

In the last issue I asked how many of you are copywriters and how many are content writers. Here are the results:

Copywriters - 31%
Content Writers - 38%
Both - 22%
Neither - 9%

For a newsletter that is targeted at copywriters, these are interesting figures indeed. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if these figures were fairly representative of the proportion of copywriters to content writers across the industry. After all, writers of pure content came to the online medium well before their marketing colleagues. It would be interesting to know how many of the 31% of copywriters started out as online content writers.

For this issue's survey, we have something a little different. Let's see if we can find a really good definition of the difference between copy and content.

Until next time,

Nick

>> Feedback: nick@nickusborne.com

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ARTICLE: WRITE COPY THAT DIRECTS THE SITE VISITOR FORWARD.

Just a small thought. I sometimes think that text and graphic links make online copywriters a little lazy.

It's tempting to assume that it is the job of the links on a page to drive each visitor forward to the next step towards achieving his or her objective. But when we make that assumption, we are not achieving all that we could with the copy or content itself.

Whether the page is mainly informative, or whether it is there to drive a specific customer action, you still want your readers to do SOMETHING at the end of the page.

It may be that you want them to sign up for a newsletter, move on to the next stage in a process, choose between three different options, check a box, read another article, forward something to a friend - and so on.

But more often or not, the copy or content on a page comes to an end without having communicated the need to move forward NOW.

We should do better than that. We can't leave it to those nice graphic links to do all the work.

The closing text on any page should be written with the next step forward in mind.

In other words, all page text should 'close the sale' to some degree. As copywriters we should be mindful of the purpose of each page, and clear in our communication of the benefits of moving on to the next one.

Btw - as soon as you finish this article, don't forget to take part in this issue's survey. : )

>> Feedback: nick@nickusborne.com

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RESOURCES: FINDING WORK

I had hoped to hear from more of you with useful links for copywriters in search of jobs through online sources. If you know of any, let me know.

In the meantime, thank you Kathy Shaidle for the following:

http://freelancewrite.about.com/cs/assignmentboards/index.htm

>> Do you have or know of some useful online resources for copywriters? Let me know at nick@nickusborne.com

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SURVEY: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COPY AND CONTENT?

No simple multiple choice questions this week. Here's your task for this issue...

Send me, in 20 words or less, your definition of the difference between copy and content online. The best definitions will be published, and credited, in the next issue.

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